At least 23 insurgents were killed during a 20 day operation in central Logar province, the provincial governor's office said in a statement on Thursday.

In addition, 28 other insurgents were injured.

The operation was launched in Mohammad Agha, Barak-e-Barak and Charkh districts of the province and ended on Wednesday, the statement said adding that “during the operation the districts were cleared of insurgents.”

“Twenty other insurgents were also arrested during the operation,” it said.

However, the statement did not provide details about casualties among security forces during the operation.

[Ynet] A Kenya police official says they have placed in durance vileBook 'im, Mahmoud! three alleged international human traffickers who are suspected of smuggling recruits for ISIS and helping to finance the group.

Two of the men were on a Kenyan wanted list with a $20,000 reward for information leading to their arrest.

Police front man George Kinoti said in a statement Thursday the two Kenyans and a Somali were arrested Monday in the coastal town of Malindi.

Kinoti says Somali-born Ali Hussein Ali is accused of being recruited by ISIS after he left Kenya in 2010 and "deployed" back to the country in November.

Kenya is battling to stop recruitment of its youth by holy warrior groups, notably al-Shabaab... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... in neighboring Somalia.

BENGHAZI: A fighter jet belonging to east Libyan forces crashed in a residential area south of the city of Tobruk on Wednesday, killing the pilot and a family of three, military officials said.

The MiG jet suffered a technical fault while it was being piloted by Saleh Joudah, the commander of Tobruk air base, said Ahmed Al-Mismari, spokesman for the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA).

Libya is home to a patchwork of armed groups with shifting loyalties. The LNA, which does not recognize the UN-backed government in Tripoli, has made territorial gain in recent months in eastern and central Libya, while also fighting rival factions inside areas under its control.

A video was showing a prisoner exchange between the LNA and the Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB), a faction that seized control of two of Libya’s key oil ports earlier this month.

Three LNA troops captured during the oil port fighting were seen being exchanged for six women who had been trapped by fighting in Benghazi. The exchange took place on Tuesday.

The women had been in a cluster of unfinished buildings on the edge of Benghazi’s Ganfouda district where a long siege by the LNA ended earlier this month when rival fighters and their families tried to escape.

The BDB said it advanced on the oil ports as part of a campaign to reach Benghazi and secure the return of families displaced by the LNA’s near three-year campaign there against militants and other opponents. Some of the BDB’s members had earlier fled the eastern city as the LNA advanced.

The Red Crescent said medical authorities received 54 bodies on the day the Ganfouda siege ended and that it later recovered another 21 bodies from the area.

Aden – At a time the terror offshoot of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is attempting a failed comeback in Yemen’s Lahij, a US drone reportedly killed four suspected members of the organization in the northern district of Moudiya early Wednesday.

They said the attack in Amqoz in the Moudiya district of Abyan province took place around midnight on Tuesday. Their vehicle was completely burned and the four bodies inside badly charred, they added.

Residents also reported hearing missile strikes on a suspected Qaeda outpost in Wadi al-Naseel area, also in Abyan province, but said the number of casualties was unknown.

The US raid came within 48 hours after an attack staged by AQAP hardliners against local authorities in Lahij province, bombing two cars. Pro-legitimacy Yemeni security forces responded to the attack killing 10 armed attackers, some of whom equipped with explosive belts. Six government soldiers and 4 citizens were killed in the attack.

Yemeni spectators deemed the AQAP attack a failure given that the group lost 10 fighters, unlike previous incidents during which security forces accounted for mass losses caused by lone wolf suicide bombing.

Counter-AQAP security and military operations in southern Yemen have intensified recently as the group attempts to push back to forefronts through staging a series of terrorist attacks. The most recent of which was the failed attack targeting local authority headquarters in Lahj province, north of Aden.

Local government forces announced the arrest of Abu Ali al-Sayyari, a senior AQAP leader–the arrest was made during a qualitative raid which also apprehended three militants and killed two others.

Yemeni security authorities recently stepped up attacks targeting AQAP strongholds. They have also cleared some neighborhoods in the government-held interim capital Aden.

The United States has repeatedly attacked AQAP, the Yemeni arm of the militant group, in strikes this month from aircraft and unmanned drones in what US officials say is a campaign to degrade the group’s ability to coordinate militant attacks abroad.

AQAP has exploited nearly two years of civil war in Yemen to recruit followers and cement its dominance in central and southern parts of the Arab country.

[Dhaka Tribune] Police raided a residential area in Tongi near the Tamirul Millat Kamil Madrasa.

Gazipur Additional Superintendent of Police Russell Sheikh said the raid was conducted as part of a regular raid to stake out potential bad boy hideouts.

He said: "The raid is a follow-up to the recent anti-militant raids in Moulvibazar, Comilla and Sylhet.

Three people, including a madrasa student, were juggedDrop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! on Thursday evening. Touhidul Islam, 17, a first-year Alim student, Abdullah, 30, and Anisur Rahman, 30, the latter two local traders, were arrested on suspicions of being involved with bad boy activities.

"We suspect faceless myrmidons might try to set up footholds in certain areas and are combing through them," he added.

[IsraelTimes] Three men from Kosovo and an unidentified minor have been arrested in Venice on suspicion of plotting to blow up the city’s celebrated Rialto Bridge and planning other attacks, Italian police said Thursday.

“With all the unbelievers there are in Venice, you put a bomb under the Rialto and you go straight to heaven,” one of the alleged jihadist plotters said in a wiretapped conversation, according to Adelchi d’Ippolito, the Venice prosecutor in charge of the case. He revealed the group had been under surveillance since last year.

Authorities identified the suspects as Fisnik Bekaj, Dake Haziraj and Arjan Babaj. They said the wiretap evidence against the suspects also includes recordings of them celebrating the attack that killed four people outside Parliament in London last week and discussing their desire to join Islamist fighters in Syria.

D’Ippolito said the suspects were “truly dangerous” and were suspected of plotting attacks both in Italy and overseas. One had returned recently from Syria, he said. But he added that they wouldn’t have been able to carry out an attack in Italy since they were being closely watched.

The suspects were detained in an overnight sweep carried out after it was established that they had undergone “religious radicalization”, according to a police statement.

D’Ippolito said a search of a Venice apartment showed the suspects were getting in physical shape and watching videos of Islamic extremists demonstrating how to carry out knife attacks. He also said the suspects appeared to have been studying how to build explosives but did not have the necessary components for making a bomb.

Raids were conducted at 12 locations in the historic center of the city, which is a magnet for millions of visitors from around the world.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said all those detained had residency permits to live in Italy.

[AlAhram] Two Syrian migrants who came to Germany as part of an influx of refugees in the summer of 2015 went on trial in Munich on Thursday accused of fighting in Syria as part of a militant group. Barbara Stockinger, a judge and spokeswoman for Munich's higher regional court, said 22-year-old Azad R. and 24-year-old Kamel T.H.J. were accused of fighting near Aleppo as part of the Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham between August 2013 and April 2014.

"They armed themselves with kalashnikovs and fought against other rebel groups and the Syrian military government," she said.

Stockinger said one of the men was injured during combat and headed to Turkey for medical treatment along with the other defendant. They then travelled to Germany, where they arrived in around June 2015 before being taken into custody in April 2016.

[AlAhram] A Syrian man set himself on fire at a migrant camp on the Greek island of Chios on Thursday in despair over his bid to gain asylum, the Greek news agency ANA reported. The unidentified man was rushed to hospital with burns over 90 percent of his body, ANA said. The policeman who tried to save him was also hospitalised with burns.

Thousands of people, many of them Syrians fleeing war, are stuck in Greece's Aegean islands as a result of an EU-Turkish agreement that curbed the influx of migrants to the European Union. Most of them have filed for asylum to avoid being sent back to Turkey, but these applications take months to handle. Humanitarian groups have repeatedly sounded the alarm over declining morale in their camps.

In a separate incident, Greek police said Thursday they had arrested a people trafficker who imprisoned 23 South Asian migrants for a week in a bid to blackmail their families into paying money for smuggling them into Greece. The 26-year-old Greek national was demanding between 1,500 and 3,000 euros ($1,600 to $3,200) a head. The migrants had only made an up-front payment. Police were alerted by a migrant who complained that his brother and a nephew were being held in the warehouse in Menemeni, a small town near the northern city of Thessaloniki, a police statement said.

[Ynet] German prosecutors have charged a radicalized man with attempted murder for throwing two Molotov cocktails into the entrance of a shopping mall in an effort to kill "infidels." Prosecutors in Celle identified the 18-year-old German citizen Thursday only as Saleh S., in line with privacy rules. He is the elder brother of a 16-year-old girl, Safia S., who was convicted in January of stabbing and wounding a police officer at the behest of the Islamic State group.

Prosecutors say the suspect sympathized with groups such as ISIS. He allegedly threw the home-made firebombs—filled with diesel fuel that didn't ignite—into the entrance of the mall in Hannover on Feb. 5 last year. They sideswiped two people, but no one was hurt and no damage caused.

[DW] Ordinary Danes should inform the authorities if they suspect food vendors are employing illegal immigrants, Danish Integration Minister Inger Stoejberg has said. The police cannot be everywhere at once, she added. Stoejberg recommended informing on food businesses on Wednesday after Danish media reported that a growing number of people were living in Denmark illegally.

The hardline minister is no stranger to controversy. Two weeks ago, she sparked outrage by posting a picture of herself with a cake commemorating the 50th government measure to tighten immigration law. She was also involved in the push to seize immigrants' valuables and jewelry in order to pay for their stay in immigration centers.

According to Danish media, the number of foreigners living illegally in the Scandinavian country has risen from 877 people in 2015 to 1,348 last year. The state, with its population of 5.6 million, has been mostly spared from the immigration wave that hit Germany and Sweden.

EU President Predicts 30 Million More Migrants Will Come Europe
30 March
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani claims there could be as many as 30 million migrants heading to Europe in the coming years and advocates “refugee cities” as an answer to the crisis.

Hungary Begins Detaining Migrants in ‘Container Villages’ Amidst Protests from EU
30 March
The Hungarian government has begun the process of relocating asylum seekers into two “container villages” while the European Court of Human rights (ECHR) has fought against the move.

Auditors: German Courses For Migrants Waste of Millions of Euros
29 March
German auditors have slammed the government’s German language courses for asylum seekers saying that it is likely that millions of euros have been wasted on programmes where no measure of success could be found.

German Minister Threatens Sanctions on Countries Who Refuse to Take Back Migrants
29 March
The German government is putting pressure on African countries to take back their citizens who have failed to claim asylum by threatening economic sanctions.

Austrian Government to Ban Burqa
29 March
The grand coalition government of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Socialist Party (SPÖ) have now agreed to ban the full-face Islamic veil, known as the burqa, as part of a new integration package.

Austria Wants to Exit EU Migrant Redistribution Scheme
28 March
Austria should withdraw completely from the European Union’s migrant redistribution programme because it has already taken enough, government ministers have said.

European Union Attacks Hungary’s Anti-Migrant Laws
28 March
Hungary’s new legislation allowing for the detention of asylum-seekers in shipping containers at border camps took effect Tuesday, with the European Union’s commissioner for migration saying that it needs to comply with the bloc’s rules.

Eastern EU Members Slam ‘Blackmail’ by Brussels on Migrants Resettlement
28 March
Leaders from Central Europe said Tuesday they reject a European Union policy that calls for all member states to receive migrants, protesting suggestions that the level of their compliance could be linked to the availability of EU funds to them.

Hungary Refuses to Take 5,000 Migrants From Sweden
28 March
Hungary has refused a request by the Swedish government to take in 5,000 asylum seekers, and the Swedes want to take the matter to court.

Underage Runaway Migrants in Germany Forced into Prostitution and Drug Peddling
28 March
Underage migrants who run way from asylum homes are finding themselves reduced to selling drugs or becoming child prostitutes for as little as €10 in the German capital of Berlin.

Italian Public Prosecutor Accuses NGOs of Abetting Illegal Immigration into Italy
26 March
An Italian public prosecutor has called for monitoring of the funding of NGOs engaged in rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, noting that “the facilitation of illegal immigration is a punishable offense regardless of the intentions.”

Hungarian Government Denies Widespread Abuse of Migrants Claimed by Campaign Groups
26 March
A new report shows that while there have been instances of violence from Hungarian border guards or police, the extent is nowhere near what various pro-migrant NGOs have claimed. Over the last year, many humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have accused Hungarian border

According to the CIA World Factbook,my favourite source for such things, Muslims make up 7-9% of the French population. Presumably that does not count the never mentioned number of migrants who may or may not be passing through.

#2
Reading further down the entry after posting the above, I note the following note:

note: France maintains a tradition of secularism and has not officially collected data on religious affiliation since the 1872 national census, which complicates assessments of France's religious composition; an 1872 law prohibiting state authorities from collecting data on individuals' ethnicity or religious beliefs was reaffirmed by a 1978 law emphasizing the prohibition of the collection or exploitation of personal data revealing an individual's race, ethnicity, or political, philosophical, or religious opinions; a 1905 law codified France's separation of church and state (2015 est.)

[AnNahar] Several people were maimed in "serious" altercations in front of the Turkish consulate in Brussels between supporters and opponents of Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... on Thursday, Belgian police said.

"Serious incidents broke out between supporters and opponents of the Turkish regime, on a public road, outside the consulate of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....," Brussels police spokeswoman Ilse van de Keere told AFP.

"Many people were maimed" and taken to hospital, she added.

The incident occurred on the third day that Turkish voters in Belgium are allowed to cast early ballots for a referendum that could vastly boost Erdogan's powers.

Turkish voters in Austria, Denmark, La Belle France, Germany and Switzerland...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... can also cast their ballots for the next two weeks, until April 9.

Van de Keere gave no other details on the number of people injured or on the state of their injuries, saying the situation was "sensitive" and that about 100 people remained in front of the consulate at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT).

The Brussels prosecutor's office was investigating the incident.

According to the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency, three people of Kurdish origin arriving to vote on the referendum were stabbed in incidents provoked by supporters of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Turkey will vote on April 16 on the proposal to create an executive presidency and abolish the post of prime minister.

[DAWN] A prominent local leader of the Ahmadi community and a relative of Nobel laureate Abdus Salam was bumped off in Nankana Sahib on Thursday morning in an attack claimed by the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... (LeJ).

Advocate Malik Saleem Latif, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiya in Nankana Sahib, was on his way to a local court on a cycle of violence along with his son, Advocate Farhan, when Latif was targeted and shot at by "unidentified attackers".

Latif's son informed Dawn that the attackers had fired at them from behind.

"Saleem Latif was spreading Ahmadi beliefs in the region," the LeJ said in a statement claiming Thursday's attack.

A district police officer (DPO) said that a suspect had been identified and police are narrowing their leads in the case. He refused to disclose further information for the time being.

"We have three teams investigating and searching for the assailants and trying to apprehend them," DPO Shahzada Billa Umer later told Rooters.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops have been directed to avoid using heavy weaponry in battles with Islamic State militants in western Mosul as dozens of civilian casualties had sparked an international uproar.

The Joint Operations Command had received directives from the Armed Forces leadership to not to use heavy weapons and smart guns in operations to recapture the remaining parts of western Mosul, DPA quoted a senior Iraqi officer saying.

Mohamed al-Jubouri, a brigadier-general from the JOC, said the command forwarded the instructions to troops on field, including the Federal Police and the Rapid Response forces, urging to avoid using heavy weapons in bombarding IS havens so as to prevent more civilian casualties.

He said that while IS continue to use civilians as human shields, large numbers of militants flee battlefronts to outside Mosul.

The Pentagon has recently said it was going to investigate reports saying that at least 240 civilians died when fighter jets from the U.S.-led international coalition bombarded IS locations in a western Mosul district on March 17th. Its officials, however, said it was difficult to avoid civilian deaths and stressed that combat strategies were not going to be changed.

The JOC, which has been leading battles against IS in Mosul since October, has said it found no evidence that civilians died due to airstrikes, and accused IS of fabricating such allegations to defame the security campaign and detonating civilians’ homes to push back security troops.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Commander of the Counter-Terrorism 2nd Operations Brigade announced on Thursday, that security forces continue to advance against the Islamic State militants in the terrorist group-held areas in Mosul.

Major General Moen al-Saadi said in a press statement that security forces are advancing significantly against the Islamic State terrorist group.

Forces from Iraqi Army and police managed to impose their control on important and strategic areas in the western and southern axes of Mosul, including Silo plants, Health Control Directorate, and some service departments, Saadi added.

Nineveh Province is witnessing extensive military operations, after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced launching an offensive to liberate the western side of the city of Mosul, in addition to capturing the last stronghold of the Islamic State in the city.

Iraq is witnessing an extraordinary security situation, where ongoing military operations take place to drive out the Islamic State, while the US-led international coalition intensifies its air strikes on the group’s headquarters.

Federal Police and Rapid Response Forces, according to Yarallah, freed the district from IS and raised the Iraqi flag above the buildings.

Iraqi troops are now making their way toward al-Zangeli neighborhood.

Mosul is the Islamic State’s strongest stronghold in Iraq. Eastern Mosul was recaptured from IS in January, after a US-backed offensive was launched in October. A new offensive started in February to retake the west.

Battles in the west are believed to be much more difficult due to the density of residential areas and the high number of civilians who the commanders believe are used as human shields by IS members.

IS lost control on most of the cities it captured in northern and western Iraq in 2014 and 2015.

Jawdat said in a press statement that troops of the Federal Police continued their advance toward al-Hadba Minaret, after recapturing Qadib al-Ban, in western Mosul.

The Federal Police troops also continue raiding IS-held areas, backed by snipers and drones, in the vicinity of the Great Mosque of Nuri, as well as opening safe havens for civilians to leave the city, Jawdat added.

Earlier today, Federal Police and Rapid Response Forces freed Qadib al-Ban district, in western Mosul, from the Islamic State and raised the Iraqi flag above the buildings.

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) 17 militants of the Islamic State were killed and injured in a strike launched by the US-led coalition, southwest of Kirkuk, a security source from the province said on Thursday.

Speaking to AlSumaria News, the source said, “the airstrikes by the international coalition striked on Thursday sites of the IS in villages of Olw Borhan, al-Sheikh Zakaa and al-Khabbaz, 35 KM southwest of Kirkuk. Seven members were killed including a prominent leader, while ten others were injured.”

“The airstrike was launched in coordination with Iraqi intelligence authorities,” the source, who preferred anonymity said.

Military operations in Iraq are resumed at places where IS control it. International coalition launch airstrikes against the IS sites leaving casualties.

Islamic State has been holding areas in southwestern Kirkuk since the group emerged in 2014 to announce a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate” In Iraq. It has executed hundreds of civilians in Kirkuk for collaborating with security forces or attempting to escape those areas.

The Iraqi government is expected to launch an offensive to retake IS-occupied areas in Kirkuk once it is done with eradicating IS from Mosul, the group’s biggest bastion in Iraq where U.S.-backed government troops and allied militias have entered a sixth month of operations seeking to recapture the city.

Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A military operation has been launched to drive the Islamic State militants out of the northeastern regions in Diyala province, Ahmed Hussein al-Tamimi, a leader from al-Hashd al-Shaabi troops (Popular Mobilization Units), said on Thursday.

Speaking to Alghadpress, Tamimi said “a joint military operation of army, police, al-Hashd al-Shaabi, backed by the air force, was launched this morning to purge the areas of Hamrin, northern regions of Muqdadiyah and the gas station, northeast of Diyala, of IS militants. IS havens as well as sleeper cells will be raided.”

“The operation was launched after accurate information was obtained over presence of IS havens in these areas,” he said, adding that security troops seek preventing the militias from finding safe shelters from which they could carry out their terrorist schemes in Diyala.

“Five bombs planted by IS on the main roads to hinder the security troops were defused,” Tamimi said, adding that the final outcome of the operation will be declared within the coming few hours.

Security troops alongside al-Hashd al-Shaabi troops were able to destroy several rest houses and kill number of IS fighters in previous operations launched in the northeastern regions in Diyala.

Ramadi (IraqiNews.com) A military source in Anbar Province revealed that a coalition air strike destroyed a headquarters belonging to the Islamic State in addition to killing 8 of its members, west of Ramadi, Alsumaria News reported on Thursday.

The source said, “Today, US-led international coalition air force bombarded a headquarters belonging to the Islamic State group in the city of Anah (210 km west of Ramadi), destroying it completely and killing two militants.”

“The coalition aircraft also bombarded two vehicles of the Islamic State in the city, destroying them completely and killing 4 IS members,” the source added on condition of anonymity.

The International coalition air force and Iraqi Air Force continue attacking targets belonging to the Islamic State in Anah, Rawa and Qaim in preparation to liberate these cities.

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad security said Thursday a bombing that targeted a security checkpoint at the capital’s southern entrance left six dead as a final toll.

A booby-trapped tank exploded late Wednesday while standing in line for a security check, killing six and wounding 19, the Interior Ministry’s Baghdad Operations said, adding that the explosion occurred 100 meters away from the security members.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) says violence in the country left nearly 392 dead and 613 injured, excluding security members, during February. Baghdad was the second most affected province with 120 deaths and 300 injuries, according to the organization’s monthly casualty count. It excludes death toll among security members after Iraqi authorities had asked to get such information exclusively from security commands.

While several blasts are not followed by a claim of responsibility, Islamic State militants said they had been behind some bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, leaving casualties among civilians and security troops.

Some observers believe Islamic State has been escalating attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure by government forces on that front and to divert attention from group losses. They are concerned that the group could, however, shift to a guerrilla-style war and lone wolf attacks after the recapture of Mosul.

[ALMASDARNEWS] Three Syrian members of the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) were killed in eastern Leb on Thursday after an IED attack inside the town of ’Arsal.

According to a Lebanese security source, the three ISIS members were killed when an IED planted inside their vehicle exploded in the midtown area of ’Arsal on Thursday.

The source added that the location of the boom-mobileing was near the old police headquarters of the ’Arsal Municipality.

The three ISISbandidosmurderous Moslems were originally members of the Free Syrian Army... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) that fought against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) during the battle of al-Qusayr in April 2013.

[AAWSAT] Beirut – Clashes erupted in the border area of Arsal in northeastern Lebanon on Tuesday night, when militants from the so-called Al-Nusra Front attacked several “Hezbollah” posts located along the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that the Lebanese Army joined Hezbollah in shelling Nusra Front militants in Arsal’s outskirts, using heavy artillery.

Hezbollah’s “military media” said that “Hezbollah” fighters, in cooperation with the Syrian regime forces, have targeted with automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades, armed militants from the Nusra Front, who were trying to infiltrate into the area of western Qalamoun that lies east of Arsal.

A number of militants, including one of their commanders, were killed during the clashes, and the rest fled the area, “Hezbollah” added.

The fighters of “Hezbollah” along with the Syrian forces have repelled the attempts of the Nusra Front to attack positions of the Syrian forces in Flita in the western Qalamoun area bordering Lebanon, it stated.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television reported that “Hezbollah” members fired at Nusra militants, who were trying to remove the bodies of terrorists killed during the overnight clashes in western Qalamoun.

Wednesday’s clashes led to further deaths among al-Nusra militants, Al-Manar added.

Meanwhile, Syrian Activist Nasser al-Qalamouni, who was present in the Arsal area, said that the Lebanese Army continued shelling several areas in the region, accompanied by intensive flying of Lebanese reconnaissance aircrafts over Arsal.

[ALMASDARNEWS] The Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) launched another offensive in the Deir Ezzor Governorate this week, targeting the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) defenses around the provincial cemetery and Panorama Roundabout.

ISIS began the offensive by simultaneously storming the Syrian Arab Army’s western flank at both the Panorama Roundabout and provincial cemetery; this would result in a series of intense festivities that would last for most of the day on Thursday.

Unable to infiltrate the Syrian Arab Army’s defenses, the Islamic State forces of Evil were forced to withdraw their assault in order to avoid anymore casualties.

[ALMASDARNEWS] The jihadist rebels of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014... have been steadily building up their forces in the northern Latakia countryside for an upcoming offensive that will target the key village of Kinsibba in the Kurdish Mountains.

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) reportedly learned of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham’s plans late this month after Russian spy drones captured footage of the jihadist rebels moving into the Latakia countryside from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....’s Hatay Province.

According to a military source stationed in northern Latakia, the jihadist rebels were expected to attack the Syrian Arab Army’s defenses around Kinsibba three days ago; however, the assault was called off for unknown reasons.

With the conclusion of Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Aleppo, the jihadist rebels now have a lot of reserves to transfer to this imperative mountainous front in order to recover the ground they lost to the Syrian Arab Army last year.

[ALMASDARNEWS] The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are within striking distance of the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....’s second most important city in the al-Raqqa Governorte after seizing the Tabaqa Military Airport this past weekend.

Backed by U.S. Coalition Arclight airstrikes, the Syrian Democratic Forces have managed to liberate a large chunk of al-Raqqa’s western countryside, putting them in position to seize the Islamic State’s bastion of Tabaqa City.

According to the SDF’s official media wing, their forces are currently attacking the Islamic State-held town of al-Safsafah, which is located just east of Tabaqa City &dash; it will likely be liberated in the coming hours.

As of now, the Syrian Democratic Forces are within 2km of Tabaqa City, which is the closest any entity in this war has come to this Islamic State stronghold in western al-Raqqa.

[ALMASDARNEWS] The Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) announced on Thursday that their terrorist organization was responsible for the twin suicide kabooms in Damascus’ Palace of Justice earlier this month.

According to the terrorist group’s statement, their two jacket wallahs were identified as Abu Mos al-Jolani and Abu Firas al-Shami.

These twin suicide kabooms ended up killing over 40 civilians inside the Damascus Palace of Justice, marking the second time that week the Syrian capital was the target of a terrorist attack.

An online publication linked to ISIS says two of its Syrian members carried out the deadly twin suicide kabooms in mid-March in Syria's capital.

The al-Nabaa online weekly says the man who attacked the Justice Palace in central Damascus shot the guards first, then walked into the building and went kaboom!. Two hours later, another ISIS member from Syria went kaboom! in a restaurant frequented by Christians.

The Syrian army units eliminated 3 terrorist group affiliated to al-Nusra Front terrorist organization in the countryside of Daraa and Sweida.

A military source told SANA that an army unit carried out a special operation against a gathering of al-Nusra terrorist organization between the villages of Barghasheh and al-Shayahat in al-Lajat area in Sweida northwestern countryside.

The source added that all members of a terrorist group were killed in the operation and their military equipment was destroyed.

An army unit also eliminated two terrorist groups affiliated to al-Nusra after they infiltrated from the direction of Tloul Khalif and the village of Um Walad in the eastern countryside of Daraa towards one of the military posts in the western countryside of Sweida.

Meanwhile, army units carried out intensive bombardments against positions of al-Nusra terrorists in Daraa al-Balad area, killing a number of them and destroying two of their positions in the neighborhood of al-Sad Road, in addition to destroying a barricade for a machinegun to the north of the roundabout of al-Karak neighborhood.

Later, army units killed a number of al-Nusra terrorists and destroyed their sites in al-Bahar neighborhood and to the south of al-Abbasiya Bakery in Daraa province

Homs

The Air Force and Artillery of the Syrian army launched strikes against al-Nusra terrorists’ sites and movements in the northern countryside of Homs.

A military source told SANA that the strikes resulted in destroying one of the sites of al-Nusra and killing and injuring a number of the terrorists, including leaders and foreigners, in the area between the village of Deir Foul and al-Rastan city.

BEIRUT: Warplanes pounded opposition-held areas north of the Syrian city of Hama on Thursday in an escalation of air strikes, a opposition official and a monitor said, as government forces fought to reverse the insurgents’ biggest assault in months.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a doctor said air strikes near the town of Latamneh, northwest of Hama, had led several people to choke, saying it was a sign of a gas attack. A Syrian military source denied the army had used any such weapons, branding the reports as opposition propaganda.

Opposition groups, spearheaded by jihadist insurgents from the former Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front but also including Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups, launched their attack on government-held areas near Hama last week.

The area is of vital importance to President Bashar Assad, who with the support of Russia and Iran has the military upper hand there.

The observatory, a Britain-based war monitoring group, said jets had hit several opposition towns on Thursday, including Soran and Khattab, both captured by insurgents at the start of the offensive.

The Syrian military source said the army was conducting attack operations in the area and had seized the initiative back from the opposition.

Chemical attack?

Speaking to Reuters from Turkey, Abdallah Darwish, head of the health authority for opposition-held parts of Hama province, said air strikes in the south of Latamneh on Thursday morning had injured many people.

“The bombardment had a substance that caused intense irritation, heavy foaming from the mouth, and constricting pupils,” said Darwish, citing his medical staff on the ground.

A chemical attack hit the same area on Saturday, killing an orthopedic doctor, Darwish added.

The Syrian military source said the allegations that government forces were using chemical weapons were “devoid of truth.”
“The army has not, will not, and does not need to use these weapons,” the source said.

A joint inquiry for the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog has previously accused government forces of toxic gas attacks. Damascus has repeatedly denied using such weapons during the six-year-old war.

Mohammed Rasheed, a spokesman for the Jaish Al-Nasr opposition group fighting in Hama under the FSA banner, said government and Russian “air strikes have been ramped up terribly.”

“The Russian warplanes have not stopped since last night,” he said.
While the opposition have been on the back foot in recent months, their latest attack has shown the challenges facing the army and allied militia in fighting on numerous fronts at once.

Opposition groups also clashed with government forces along several front lines in rural Hama on Thursday.

[IsraelTimes] Coalition official says slain jihadists were part of efforts to recruit imported muscle and encourage terror attacks in Western countries.

The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group said Thursday that it had killed a propaganda chief and associates in an air strike in the western Iraqi town of al-Qaim.

Ibrahim al-Ansari was an "important ISIS leader," said Colonel Joseph Scrocca, a front man for the Baghdad-based coalition, using an alternate acronym for Islamic State.

The propaganda official was a leader in propaganda efforts to recruit imported muscle and encourage "terror attacks" in Western countries, Scrocca told news hounds.

The air strike took place on March 25, he said.

The bombardment, which also killed four other IS jihadists, destroyed a multimedia operation team, said another Defense Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Their propaganda efforts included "brainwashing of young children to perpetuate ISIS brutal methods," the source said.

The remote town of al-Qaim is in the Euphrates Valley, at the border with Syria.

According to the Pentagon, the Euphrates Valley could become the last bastion of the Islamic State following the fall of their strongholds in djinn-infested Mosul... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn..., Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) A video released by the Iraqi Federal Police service purports to show an Islamic State militant in Mosul forcing an Iraqi child to stand as a human shield during encounters with security forces.

On its facebook page, the Federal Police command explained that the video, apparently filmed through a combat equipment, was shot during fights with IS members in central Mosul’s Old City district.

Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition, recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting to retake the city that fell to Islamic State extremists in 2014. The government launched a new offensive in February to retake the city’s western side.

Police and supporting forces said recently they became closer to the Old City’s Nuri al-Kabir mosque, where IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of the group’s rule in Iraq and Syria. They had earlier recaptured the city’s airport and biggest military base besides several other districts since the launch of the campaign. The army’s leadership said recently government troops became in control over 50 percent of the region.

The United Nations, Iraqi generals and aid groups have accused IS of using civilians as human shields. Iraqi commanders said the practice was behind recent casualties in western Mosul blamed on coalition airstrikes.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State executed 23 civilians in western Mosul on Thursday for refusing to evacuate, and arrested a senior commander over treason.

Dijlah TV quoted eyewitnesses saying that an Islamic State firing squad shot dead 23 civilians from Ras al-Jada and Malaab areas in western Mosul for refusing to evacuate homes and move to other districts with the militants. The execution was carried out at Zanjili district in central Mosul, according to the witnesses.

ِAslo in central Mosul, a trainer at Mosul’s sports club and his wife were killed when a Kateyusha missile landed on their home in Deka Barka neighborhood, according to the channel.

Meanwhile, Alsumaria News quoted local sources saying the Islamic State arrested an elite commander of al-Farouq battalion and 20 other members in Tal Afar town, an IS stronghold west of Mosul. The source said those arrested were accused of “breaching the pledge of allegiance” to IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The source added that the arrest took place while the commander was arresting a leadership meeting.

Iraqi forces launched a major campaign in February to retaken western Mosul, having retaken the east in January. Iraqi commanders, aid groups and U.N bodies have accused IS of using civilians as human shields. Occasional news reports have highlighted internal divisions within IS ranks as the destiny of Baghdadi grew murkier.Google Map at the link

Captain Amir Watheq told BasNews that “security troops found three unidentified bodies in al-Karama and al-Quds, east of Mosul, on Thursday.”

“The bodies were blindfolded and had shots in the head,” the source said.

In related news, another security source said several citizens were killed and injured due to a missile shelling on a market located in western Mosul, the National News Center reported.

Speaking on condition of anonymity on Thursday, the source said, “Islamic State militants shot three missiles on al-Zohour market targeting women and children in east of Mosul.”

“The shelling left seven women and children killed and one woman severely wounded,” he said, adding that the victims were transferred to hospital in al-Zohour area.

Mosul is the Islamic State’s strongest stronghold in Iraq. Eastern Mosul was recaptured from IS in January, after a US-backed offensive was launched in October. A new offensive started in February to retake the west. The government troops have recently pushed deeper into the Old City, a densely-populated and -structured area which military officials view as central to the desired victory over IS militants.

Battles in the west are believed to be much more difficult due to the density of residential areas and the high number of civilians who the commanders believe are used as human shields by IS members.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Number of children who were recruited by the Islamic State fighters in Mosul have exceeded 18,000, according to a senior security source. Many of them resorted to refugee camps with their families.

Speaking to Al-Ghad Press on Thursday, the source said that IS recruited more than 18,000 children below the age of 18 years old through mobilization of the school students.

Security troops obtained the full names of those recruited by IS, he said, adding that university students were forcibly divided among different specializations that serve IS purposes in Mosul.

“The security committee in charge of reviewing the situation in Mosul revealed that thousands of recruited children are there among displaced families,” he said indicating follow up on them to seeking rehabilitation in coordination with religious endowments and education ministries.

IS recruits children to carry out terrorist and suicide attacks.

Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights reported earlier this week that 197 children have been taken hostage by the IS militants near al-Nouri Grand Mosque in west Mosul where the Iraqi troops have closed in on the militant group.

Mosul is the Islamic State’s strongest stronghold in Iraq. Eastern Mosul was recaptured from IS in January, after a US-backed offensive was launched in October. A new offensive started in February to retake the west.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Nineveh Province informed that the houses of three members of the Islamic State group were attacked with hand grenades in Tal Afar District, west of Mosul, Alsumaria News reported on Thursday.

The source said, “Today, unidentified gunmen attacked, using hand grenades, houses of three members of the Islamic State in a residential neighborhood in Tal Afar District, west of Mosul, resulting in the burning of two vehicles, as well as inflicting material losses on the houses.”

“The incident is the first of its kind,” the source added on condition of anonymity. “The Islamic State imposed a curfew in the area, and started extensive search operations in the residential neighborhood,” the source further explained.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.